Aarogya Setu now mandatory for railway travel

New Delhi, May 12: The Aarogya Setu app has now been made mandatory for passengers travelling by the Special Rajdhani trains commencing from today.

While the guidelines issued by the railways for the 15 pairs of special trains running between Delhi and major cities of the country did not say installing the mobile app was mandatory, a late night (12:24 am) tweet by the railway ministry made it compulsory.

Though the MHA has said installing the mobile app will be a must for those living in the COVID-19 containment zones, it has not mentioned it in the guidelines for passengers availing special train services. The Press Information Bureau statement on Monday had only "advised" them to use the contact tracing app.

The move comes a day after Prime Minister Narendra Modi held a virtual meet with chief ministers, where many several states have opposed the resumption of trains.

However, there is no clarity yet on if and how the app will be enforced, officials said, as the Supreme Court, in a directive, has said making it mandatory is illegal.

The Aarogya Setu app has been installed on 9.8 crore smartphones so far and is used by the government for contact-tracing and disseminating medical advisories to users in order to contain the spread of COVID-19.